Girls Basketball wins. Nuggets 42, Perham 17.

The Hawley Lady Nuggets advance to game two of the Section 8AA playoffs with a convincing win over Perham Thursday, 42-17.

The #1-seeded HOL champion Nuggets started post-season play taking on the #8-seeded Perham Yellowjackets on the Hawley home court.

The Nuggets secured the tip but could not convert on their first possession. A drive by Olivia Olson gave the Nuggets their first two of the night which was followed shortly after with a three by Drew Sannes and the Nuggets had a 5-0 lead with less than four minutes off the clock. The Jackets got two in the paint, but the Nuggets let loose with a six point run and led 13-2 before the Jackets called a timeout to make some adjustments.

The Nuggets continued their patient offense gaining baskets from Morgan Aackre and Drew Sannes along with back-to-back threes by Jody Noreen and Mira Ellefson which gave them a 19-4 advantage.

Perham crept back, adding seven unanswered points before the Nuggets got two from the line by Sannes after a seven minute dry spell. A steal and fast break bucket by Olson increased the Nugget lead to 23-9 to take them into the half-time break.

A few seconds into the second half, Sannes connected for two to put the first points up. A steal and assist by Noreen to Ellefson gave the Nuggets three more as Ellefson sunk the bucket plus one. Another basket by Aackre would give the Nuggets their biggest lead of the night night so far, 30-9, with 13:30 remaining.

With good defense from the Hawley bench, the Jackets would add just eight points to their half-time tally, giving the Nuggets a convincing 42-17 win.

The Nuggets face Wadena-Deer Creek (who defeated Frazee by one point Thursday) at 6 PM Saturday at Concordia College.